Editorial: Time to lower New Jersey's high C-section rates

A new study by the National Center for Health Statistics found that nearly four of every 10 births in New Jersey continue to be by Cesarean section, the second-highest rate in the nation, behind only Louisiana.

Four years later, the rate (38.7 of all births in 2011) has remained largely unchanged, despite apparent efforts by the New Jersey Hospital Association to encourage members to reduce the number of medically unnecessary induced deliveries, one of the contributing factors to elevated C-section rates.

Those efforts, at least so far, haven't made an appreciable dent in New Jersey's sky-high rate. It is time for the state Department of Health and Senior Services, perhaps in conjunction with university researchers, to further explore the reasons New Jersey's C-section rate remains so high. This is, after all, a major health issue.

Research has shown that C-sections are medically necessary in only about 15 percent of deliveries, and that they carry more risks for the mother, including infection and other complications common to surgery and longer recovery times.

Babies born by Cesarean section are more likely to have breathing problems and to develop several chronic diseases, childhood-onset diabetes, allergies with cold-like symptoms and asthma.

So why are so many Garden State doctors performing these procedures on low-risk women who are the least likely to benefit from Cesareans?

Childbirth Connection, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the quality of maternity care, notes there is a financial incentive for some doctors and hospitals to do more C-sections due to greater insurance reimbursement rates. Doctors' fear of malpractice lawsuits also can increase the rate of C-sections. And some medically unnecessary C-sections are scheduled for the convenience of the mother or doctor. All of these possibilities need to be explored.

The state needs to get to the bottom not only of the glut of C-sections, but the wide variation in rates among hospitals. The highest rates of Cesarean deliveries have been in Bergen and Hunterdon counties. The lowest rates have been in Ocean County, where about one in four births are by C-section.

New Jersey's C-section rate is high for a reason. Or, perhaps, a variety of reasons. Given the health implications of New Jersey having the second highest rate in the nation, it is long past time for the state Department of Health and Senior Services to get serious about identifying those reasons - and coming up with policies that will help address them to bring the rate down.

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Editorial: Time to lower New Jersey's high C-section rates

A new study by the National Center for Health Statistics found that nearly four of every 10 births in New Jersey continue to be by Cesarean section, the second-highest rate in the nation, behind only

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